HMM accredited with ISO 27001, information security standard

South Korea’s leading container carrier Hyundai Merchant Marine Co. (HMM) announced Friday that it received the ISO/IEC 27001 certification, an information security standard.

The ISO/IEC 27001 is the most authoritative standard that is given by International Standards Organization (ISO) and International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) to companies having reliable security policies after reviewing 114 items of 14 sectors including data protection policies, human resources security, physical and environmental security and operation security.

The certification is renewed on a three-year basis, and companies should go through an annual inspection for their maintenance of their security system.

“We will continue to work hard to strengthen our security policies to effectively respond to the rising security threats like cyberattacks,” said an official from HMM. “We will also put our efforts to improve credibility by fulfilling privacy protection demands of our clients.”

The company also obtained a number of other certifications including ISO 9001 for quality management system, ISO 14001 for environmental management system, ISO 50001 for energy management system and OHSAS 18001 for occupational health and safety system.

HMM has emerged as the country’s flagship container carrier after its bigger rival Hanjin Shipping went bankrupt in 2016.

Since the company was saved through a bailout program, it has strived to expand its presence in the global shipping industry. In October, it announced that it aimed to secure shipping capacity of 1 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) by 2022 and achieve $10 billion in sales to enhance global competitiveness. Last month, it placed orders for 12 units of 23,000 TEU carriers and eight 15,000 TEU vessels.

The company also plans to buy back a stake in Hyundai Pusan New-Port Terminal (HPNT) that it sold in 2016 for restructuring. It expects the repurchase would help it improve its competitive edge by cutting cargo handling costs.